Meet the BFFs Behind Best-Selling Rom-Com Author Christina Lauren
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While Christina Lauren has been releasing best-sellers for over a decade, fans are still learning a crucial detail about the author: She's actually comprised of two people, BFFs Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings.
“It doesn't matter how many times we've toured, how many book events we've done,” Lauren revealed to E! News in an exclusive joint interview with Christina, “there's always somebody in the audience who comes up and is like, ‘I'm so embarrassed that I didn't realize there were two of you.’”
However, it’s a sentiment the duo is more than happy to hear.
“For us that's such a huge compliment, because we don't want it to feel like it's two people writing that feels disjointed,” Lauren continued. “We want it to feel like it's one voice. So, people are apologetic, and we're like, no, no, that's actually a great compliment if you think it's just one person.”
After all, they’ve been honing that singular voice since deciding to collaborate shortly after their 2009 introduction.
“We were both writing fanfiction and doing our professional day jobs, and then Lo was putting on a panel on fan works at San Diego Comic Con,” Christina recalled. “She asked me to be on the panel. We had been talking online, reading each other's stories, but it was our first meeting in person, and we just clicked— we felt like we'd already known each other.”
After first collaborating on a short story, they soon decided to try their hand at writing a novel—and the rest is history. Though, they look back fondly at their fanfiction roots, what Christina referred to as “writers boot camp” for laying the groundwork for their careers as novelists.
“Every person who wants to be a professional writer should have to write in a fandom for a little bit,” she noted. “I couldn't do this job without what I learned there. It taught us how to take criticism and positive feedback, and to know what to take and what to leave. And it showed me how to write—we still use a lot of those tools now in how we construct chapters and stories.”
Over the course of their time as writing partners, Christina and Lauren have written over 30 books, including bestsellers like Love and Other Words, The Unhoneymooners and most recently The Paradise Problem.
And with each new project has brought an evolution in their collaboration process.
“At the beginning we wanted everything to be like a super even 50/50 split—every single task she did half, I did half,” Lauren admitted. “It just wasn't realistic. It didn't really work out that way. And I think we've learned over time that we have to really lean into our strengths.”
As she put it, “Once we sort of figured out that she's a good storyteller, and I like to do the noodly writing, it really felt like it came together.”
That said, there are some traditions that haven’t wavered. For instance, “We always outline together in person,” Lauren noted, “because there's just like a little magic that happens when we're in the room together.”
From there, they start building their story, trading drafts until they have their finished copy, a timeline that for them is ideally roughly four months.
But while their process has ebbed and flowed over the years—“We’ve done it pretty much every way you can write a book,” Lauren admitted—having the other to bounce ideas off of has been key to their success.
“We tend to build off each other,” Christina explained, “and whenever we try to do things too separately, we miss that sort of constant interaction. Something Lo will say sparks an idea for me, or something she writes sparks an idea. And I really love the way that we like layer on top of each other.”
In fact, she and Lauren are in the middle of this process as they edit their next book, set for release in spring 2026. As for what to expect from their forthcoming novel, Christina teased, “There's only one bed, and it's complicated because it's their bed.”
And as they’re finishing up their next book, Chistina and Lauren are encouraging fans to take some time to read this summer through their partnership with Sonic, which in addition to launching its new Sweet Topped Lemonades, is donating 100,000 books to low-income communities through its Limeades for Learning.
“We are readers and writers, and so anything that builds community through books and reading is going to a total win for us,” Christina explained. “So when we found out that they were doing the Limeades for Learning and getting 100,000 books into the hands of kids who need them, we were, 1,000 percent on board. I mean, we're gonna go to Sonic anyway, so this was perfect.”
For more new books hitting shelves this summer, keep reading…
Release: May 27Monaghan always delivers engaging, breezy beach reads and her latest is no different. Budding movie exec Jane and cinematographer Dan have little in common—aside from their love of this really great script. But as the film can only get the made with a superstar attached, namely the pop sensation from Jane’s child star days, the duo follows him to the music festival in Dan’s hometown to convince him to say yes. Though, the more time Jane and Dan spend together, the more sparks begin to fly…
Release: June 3Reid is taking readers back to the ‘80s—although unlike the glamorous worlds of Malibu and sports, she’s turning her sights out of this world. After being selected to be among the first women to go to space, Jane Goodwin joins her cohort of six through the grueling astronaut training at NASA, where Jane finds herself opening up to new experiences like never before—until an accident changes everything.
Release: June 3At just 10 years old, Louisa is found on the beach, her father seemingly disappeared into the sea. With a nonlinear timeline spanning decades and told through the perspective of Louisa and her parents, this novel, expanded from the New Yorker story of the same name, is a captivating examination of family and belonging.
Release: June 10There’s a reason Cosby is a must-read for so many thriller fans: his southern noir novels suck you in from the first page. In his latest, the prodigal son returns home after his father’s car accident. Only he soon learns his brother’s involvement with local gangsters is what has left their dad’s life in the balance—and the danger is far from over.
Release: June 10Take another journey through time and immortality with the Invisible Life of Addie LaRue novelist with an epic story following a trio of women vampires unlocking their power, finding freedom and seeking revenge.
Release: June 10A writer’s block-stricken songwriter finds her only burst of inspiration has come through a telepathic connection she has with a musician who is very much the opposite of everything she wants in her life. But in this magical rom-com, as they seek to break their connection by finishing the song they learn maybe there was a reason they were brought together.
Release: June 24How many red flags is too many? That is exactly the question in Jewell’s latest as it follows Ash, a 20-something mourning the shocking murder of her dad, only for Nick, a man seemingly from his past to enter their lives and start romancing her mom. Meanwhile, Martha is balancing life as a mom of three, her flower shop and a husband often away on business. However, both Ash and Martha have a nagging suspicion about the men in their lives and their connection leads to a twisted discovery.
Release: June 24A hot new bombshell has entered the bookshelf. In Rawle’s gripping debut, Lily wakes up on a remote island as one of 20 contestants on a Love Island-like show, competing for amenities and special prizes. However, as the competition heats up, the stakes are raised and surviving may just be the ultimate prize.
Release: July 8Reeling from a family tragedy, newly-divorced Jess flees her New Jersey hometown to Italy to find herself—and the truth about her family. It’s a heartfelt family saga that’ll have you itching for an invite to the Barattas’ Sunday dinner.
Release: July 15The Mexican Gothic novelist is back with another spooky read as grad student Minerva digs into the life of a horror writer, learning that her most iconic work is based on a true story and involves being haunted by a force that not only still walks the halls of campus but is eerily reminiscent of the tales that shaped Minerva’s childhood.
Release: July 29Decades after a tragedy left two locals dead and her roommate on the run, Beckett Bowery returns to her college alma mater when her daughter enrolls. But now that she’s back, secrets from her past are coming back to haunt her—and as this is a Miranda book, it features plenty of twists and turns along the way.
Release: August 26Prepare to descend into the depths of Hell—as that’s exactly what two graduate students must do, at a possibly great cost, to save their recently-deceased mentor. The Yellowface author continues to prove her dark academia bona fides with this trip into the inferno.
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